Category: Book news

Books

Somehow I only have one book for December so, as usual, that probably means I’m missing a lot of stuff!

The one book I have on my tracking sheet is an academic work Michelle L. Beer entitled Queenship at the Renaissance Courts of Britain: Catherine of Aragon and Margaret Tudor, 1503-1533 which comes out on December 20 in both the US and UK.

Event

The Tudor Society Open Weekend 2018

The Tudor Society will have an open weekend for non-members from December 7 to 9 where you can register and explore the site as if you were a member. Click the link above for more information!

Continuing Exhibitions

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is hosting an exhibition organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London entitled Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits from Holbein to Warhol which opened on October 7, 2018 and runs through January 27, 2019.

Royal Sudeley 1000

Books

A couple of previously-released books have a US edition coming this month, starting with The Mythology of the ‘Princes in the Tower’ by the late John Ashdown-Hill. It was released over the summer in the UK and is out on November 1 in the US.

Next up, Kate Williams’ The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots: Elizabeth I and Her Greatest Rival (US title) will be released on November 13 after it was released in September in the UK.

And there are a few new releases this out this month as well!

Tracy Borman has a new work out entitled Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him which will be out November 1 in the UK and early in 2019 in the US.

And finally, Devices and Desires: Bess of Hardwick and the Building of Elizabethan England by Kate Hubbard will also be out on November 1 in the UK and will out in February 2019 in the US.

Additional Items

The Anne Boleyn Files 2019 Calendar is now available for purchase! You can order it from the website here and below is a video of the pages for each month.

Continuing Exhibitions

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is hosting an exhibition organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London entitled Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits from Holbein to Warhol which opened on October 7, 2018 and runs through January 27, 2019. (And I’m thrilled that finally something is coming to my neck of the woods – I’m only about 2.5 hours from Houston so I expect to get a chance to go see it over the holidays!)

‘We are Bess’ opened at Hardwick Hall on October 3 and runs through November 4, then will re-open from February 16 to June 2 next year. The exhibition will also be available online – something I always appreciate for those of us who can’t easily visit in person.

Royal Sudeley 1000

Happy October! Now I wish it would start feeling like fall here in central Texas.

Books

A couple of books that have previously had UK released will have US releases this month.

Nicola Clark’s Gender, Family, and Politics: The Howard Women, 1485-1558 was released over the summer in the UK and will be out on October 9 in the US.

And Diarmaid MacCulloch’s Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life (US title) will be released in the US at the end of October.

And there are some new releases this month too!

Suzannah Lipscomb has written a book on Witchcraft for the Ladybird Expert Series which is out October 4 in the UK and US. Just in time for Halloween!

And if you want to get a head start on Christmas, you can read how to do it Tudor style in this new work by Alison Weir and Siobhan Clarke, also out in early October.

And finally, Sarah-Beth Watkins examines the life of Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII’s Unwanted Wife in a new work due out October 26 in both the UK and US.

Events

The 2018 BBC History Weekends will be in Winchester on October 5-7 and York from October 19-21. Click on either of the banners to go to the page for that event to see the line-up and book tickets. (One of these days I’m going to actually make it over there for one of these events…)

New Exhibitions

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is hosting an exhibition organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London entitled Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits from Holbein to Warhol which opens on October 7, 2018 and runs through January 27, 2019. (And I’m thrilled that finally something is coming to my neck of the woods – I’m only about 2.5 hours from Houston so I expect to get a chance to go see it over the holidays!)

‘We are Bess’ opens at Hardwick Hall on October 3 and runs through November 4, then will re-open from February 16 to June 2 next year. The exhibition will also be available online – something I always appreciate for those of us who can’t easily visit in person.

A bit about the exhibition from the press release:

In the late sixteenth century, Bess became the second richest woman in the country after Elizabeth I. Along the way she experienced great loss and hardship – two children and four husbands died, at times she had massive debts and lawsuits against her, while her last, broken marriage became a national scandal.

Throughout history Bess has been portrayed as greedy, overbearing, and controlling, a view that derives largely from comments made by the disinherited family of her third husband and those of her estranged fourth husband.

Now, for the exhibition,

Books

Just one book coming out in the US this month that has already been released in the UK – Nicola Tallis’ Elizabeth’s Rival: The Tumultuous Tale of Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester, which will be out on March 6.

And a few new books are due out this month as well, starting with Helen Castor’s Elizabeth I: A Study in Insecurity, part of the Penguin Monarchs series. It will be out in April as a hardcover in the US although you can get the Kindle edition now.

Next up is a look at Henry VIII’s cross-channel rival, Francis I: The Maker of Modern France by Leonie Frieda. It is out March 8 in the UK and in April in the US:

Another work is out in the Queenship and Power series of academic works – Elizabeth I in Writing: Language, Power and Representation in Early Modern England, edited by Donatella Montini and Iolanda Plescia. It is due out on March 21 is both the UK and US.

And finally, Derek Wilson’s most recent Tudor work, The Queen and the Heretic: How two women changed the religion of England about Queen Katherine Parr and Anne Askew will be out later in March is the UK and possibly the US (I found conflicting publication info).

Exhibitions

The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC is hosting an exhibition on Michel Sittow that opened on January 28, 2018 and runs to May 13, 2018. Sittow is probably most associated for fans of Tudor history with the portrait of what has long been identified as a young Catherine of Aragon. We had a discussion on the Q&A blog about the portrait being re-identified as Mary Tudor (Brandon) and it seems that the exhibition is now using that identification as well (although calling her “Mary Rose Tudor”). You can find out more about the exhibition here.

Books

This month we have a few books that were already released in the UK and are out in November in the US.

First up, Nathen Amin’s House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown is out on November 1 in the US after a summer release in the UK:

Next is Miranda Kaufmann’s Black Tudors, which was released last month in the UK and will be out on November 7 in the US:

And there are a couple of new releases coming out this month (again, first in the UK and months later in the US… at least in print – I’ve noticed that the Kindle versions are sometimes coming out at the same time as the initial print release overseas).

First is Elizabeth’s Rival: The Tumultuous Tale of Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester by Nicola Tallis which is due out on November 2 in the UK and next March in the US.

And finally, Amy Licence’s latest Tudor work, Anne Boleyn: Adultery, Heresy, Desire is out mid-month in the UK and will be released next April in the US with the title Anne Boleyn: Femme Fatale

Events

The second of 2017’s BBC History Magazine’s History Weekends will be held on November 24 – 26 in York. Details on speakers and tickets are at the link.

Continuing Exhibitions and Displays

Henry VII: The First Royal Portrait opened at the Museum of Somerset on October 17, 2017 and runs through January 6, 2018. The 1505 portrait of Henry VII is on loan to the museum from the National Portrait Gallery. Check the link for more information, including associated events.

Reformation – Shattered World, New Beginnings opened on June 26 and runs through December 15 at the Senate House Library at the University of London. You can download a digital copy of the exhibition catalogue for free at the website.

New Books
New this month is a book I’ve been looking forward to for a while, Miranda Kaufmann’s Black Tudors: The Untold Story. I’m really hoping it comes out in Audible so there’s a good chance I’ll actually get to read (okay, listen) to it soon! It is out on October 5 in the UK and November 14 in the US in hardback.

More Books

One book I missed from last month – Amy Robsart: A Life and Its End by Christine Hartweg came out in September in the US and UK:

Several books that have been out in the UK for a while will be out in the US in October:

Colouring History: The Tudors by Natalie Grueninger and Kathryn Holeman is now officially out in the US, although I got my pre-order from Amazon weeks ago!

And Terry Breverton’s Owen Tudor: Founding Father of the Tudor Dynasty is also now out in hardcover in the US (although the Kindle version was available earlier):

Lauren Johnson’s So Great a Prince: The Accession of Henry VIII: 1509 (US title), which was released last year in the UK is now out in the US. UK link goes to the paperback edition which was released back in February:

Events

The Mary Rose Trust Anniversary Lectures – Celebrating 35 years since the raising of the Mary Rose. Details on how to purchase tickets are available at the link.

Join us to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the raising of the Mary Rose with two days of fascinating talks. We will be welcoming speakers such as Dr Miranda Kaufmann, Dr Fred Hocker who is Head of Research at the Vasa Museum, Professor Jon Adams and noted historian Dr David Starkey.

The talks are taking place over two days (Friday 13th and Saturday 14th October 2017), starting at 10am each day until around 3:30pm, in the Princess Royal Gallery at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, on site at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Refreshments, including a free lunch, will be provided throughout the day and both days will conclude with a visit the Mary Rose Museum.

BBC History Magazine’s History Weekends for 2017 will be held on October 6 – 8 in Winchester and November 24 – 26 in York. Details on speakers and tickets are at the link.

New Display

Henry VII: The First Royal Portrait opens at the Museum of Somerset on October 17, 2017 and runs through January 6, 2018. The 1505 portrait of Henry VII is on loan to the museum from the National Portrait Gallery. Check the link for more information, including associated events.

Continuing Exhibitions and Displays

The first two of these are ending this month:

The Encounter – Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt opened at the National Portrait Gallery, London on July 12 and runs through October 22. Tickets can be booked at the gallery’s website linked above. More about the exhibition:

The creative encounter between individual artists and sitters is explored in this major exhibition featuring portrait drawings by some of the outstanding masters of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire is Power & Portraiture: painting at the court of Elizabeth I opened on June 7 and will run through October 29, 2017 at From the website:

A special display exploring how Elizabeth I and her courtiers used portraits to fashion their public image and promote themselves in a glamorous, dangerous world.

Two spectacular panel paintings by Nicholas Hilliard will be accompanied by loans from the Royal Collection and National Portrait Gallery. Visitors will learn about the scientific and scholarly detective work that has led to this important discovery and will be able to compare it with the famous

Books

A nice variety of new books of interest are due out in August!

First up is Amy Licence’s latest work, The Lost Kings: Lancaster, York and Tudor, which is due out August 1 in the UK and in early 2018 in the US.

Next is the latest from On the Tudor Trail’s Natalie Grueninger, Discovering Tudor London: A Journey Back in Time which will be released August 7 in the UK and in December in the US.

Nathen Amin, author of Tudor Wales latest book is House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown. It will be released on August 15 in the UK and in early November in the US.

And finally, Tudor Fashion: Dress at Court by Eleri Lynn will be released on August 22 in the UK and will be out in the US on September 12 in the US.

Events

The Bosworth Medieval Festival 2017 is on August 19 and 20 and will feature, among many other things, a talk by Leanda de Lisle on “Tudor: The Family Story”.

Continuing Exhibitions and Displays

Blood Royal: Picturing the Tudor Monarchy opened on July 25 and runs through August 25 at The Society of Antiquaries of London. They now have a virtual version of the exhibition available online.

The Encounter – Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt opened at the National Portrait Gallery, London on July 12 and runs through October 22. Tickets can be booked at the gallery’s website linked above. More about the exhibition:

The creative encounter between individual artists and sitters is explored in this major exhibition featuring portrait drawings by some of the outstanding masters of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire is Power & Portraiture: painting at the court of Elizabeth I opened on June 7 and will run through October 29, 2017 at From the website:

A special display exploring how Elizabeth I and her courtiers used portraits to fashion their public image and promote themselves in a glamorous, dangerous world.

Two spectacular panel paintings by Nicholas Hilliard will be accompanied by loans from the Royal Collection and National Portrait Gallery. Visitors will learn about the scientific and scholarly detective work that has led to this important discovery and will be able to compare it with the famous